Website re-design for childcare company

Hi Marina,

I must say it's a huge improvement comparing to the actual site. I like the overall design too.

Few issues (in random order):

1. create an account is not a good solution as parents are not interested in creating an account. They can sign up for something though.

2. Login should have 2 input boxes and allow for instant login instead of sending user to a separate log-in page

3. It's difficult to be focused on text as there are too many faces which steal user attention. Our brains are hard-wired to notice faces first.

4. Everything looks cramped as there is not enough white-space which gives 'high quality' feel.

5. There are too many options: play video, learn more, view more profiles, request brochure, visit discounts page. You have absolutely no control over user flow.

6. Where is your primary Call to Action? What do you want new visitors to do? What is your Conversion?

7. Discount information should be in Affordability sub-page to keep it in the context.

8. videos should be in context too not just as a standalone option. They should support main massages (Flexibility, Affordability, Quality)

9. Site should be cleared up and offer fewer paths of exploration. It should be designed like a museum, not like a supermarket.

10. Social icons are strangely prominent which is interesting because they have almost of no value for the users here. There is no RSS content on the homepage and I doubt users will follow you on twitter.

Au Pair market with 11 other big companies is quite competitive and IMHO you should try to develop a website which would give you a serious advantage over them. Not just informational website but an experience giving taste of quality of your services and good value for money. The way to achieve it would be via clever strategy and great UX but this is much more complicated and difficult to create than just having few information and nice graphics mixed together on a homepage.

Hope this helps. Keep up the good work!

Cheers!

Michael

(user experience designer & strategist)

is the logo missing ?

• the tabs (flexibility, affordability..) are they clickable ?.. right now it seems Flexibility is selected and i see the content related to that tab underneath in blue box (where you have 'view more profiles' button and 'back-to-school savings' section.) - similarly, i would expect when the green 'affordability' is clicked, information is displayed in the green box.

• please have column headings for the footer links.. otherwise they all look randomly placed.

• the center aligned social media icons could be part of the footer and can be placed under one of the columns there.

• You mentioned that your previous design was cluttered, but I feel like this design may be falling dangerously close to that line as well. In the image space you have the children, a title, rotating images, a description, and an advertisement for a book in the corner. seems like a bit much. You may just need to add some breathing room for some of those spaces
  • perhaps try some different fonts for the tabs or slogan, it will make things a little more contemporary than just using arial everywhere.
  • your footer is bigger than your main content area. It seems to me that you would want to give the most space to the most important information.

here is a quick example of what I mean by adding a little bit more breathing room:

Overall it's a nice design, balanced and bright. Great hero image as well, very engaging.

1. A flexible... font is off. It might be the italics that are bugging me. Checkout the new Google Font API, perhaps there's a better font for this space that's a bit more attractive to work better with that great image
2. The A Flexible... text and the 4 images, etc... below it could work better as a block as well as in relation to the 3 kids image. I'd recommend left justifying the h1 statement with the 4 thumbnails and moving the whole thing to the left while moving the kids more to the right. That'll reduce that uncomfortable gap in the middle there

The rest is solid, though I'd find a new home for hte social icons at the bottom as well as a different one for the YouTube icon. They're lost all the way down there.

Okay the e-book or brochure is nice but it would be more effective if you placed an opt-in box on the page in that spot because it is too much for the design of your page. Also the social bookmarks and Youtube icon just seem out of place. I would create a tab or small link inviting people to follow you for maybe just facebook and twitter because those are the hot ones right ow, but overall the site doesnt look bad